It is known in the prior part to provide a drill bit storage device for a power tool, such as portable power tool in the form of a drill. This storage device includes a drill bit holder adapted to be mounted in the handle of the tool. This devise suffers from two principal disadvantages. First, the storage device must be completely separated from the power tool to permit access to the drill bits. Second, the device under consideration is capable of storing only a very limited number of drill bits.
It is also known in the prior art to provide various forms of casings or containers which contain a number of drill bits of varying sizes. These casings or containers are portable in nature and are completely separate from the tool which utilizes the drill bits. These devices are disadvantageous in that they often become lost or misplaced thus preventing ready access to the desired drill bit when needed to operate the associated drilling tool.
A very popular form of drill bit casing, and one which can be obtained from almost any hardware store, is of plastic construction and consists of two shell pieces hingedly connected to each other. Each shell piece includes a rack-like formation containing recesses of progressively increasing size to accommodate drill bits of varying diameters.
A need exists in the art to provide drilling devices, such as a drill press, for example, with means for storing a considerable number of drill bits of varying sizes in a readily accessible configuration in or on the housing of the power tool. A need also exists to provide such a storage device which can accommodate and utilize the popular and readily available type of drill bit casing referred to above.